Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 1115: Chapter 139: Prince Han Didn’t Expect... (2)

"Zhao Yao must die at sea!" Prince Han said fiercely, "Send out our suicide squad."

Yang Qi received the order and said, "I will arrange it immediately."

"Send all our suicide squads, leaving no one around Zhao Yao alive." Prince Han’s plan was to kill the entire fleet, leaving no witnesses. "Make it look like a pirate attack."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Far out at sea, Zhao Yao sneezed unexpectedly.

"Your Highness, it’s probably Prince Han cursing you," Tong Xi thought, if he were Prince Han, he would likely be furious by now.

"Go and call Liang Chun."

"I will go right away, Your Highness."

After a moment, Liang Chun appeared before Zhao Yao.

Zhao Yao informed him that the upcoming assassination attempt would be more brutal than any before, and therefore, firearms could be used.

On the Liang family’s merchant ships, there were not only firearms but also cannons and other hot weapons like fire and gunpowder. However, they usually don’t use them within the Great Zhou, only when they go out to sea and encounter pirates.

Upon learning they could use firearms, Liang Chun was ecstatic and immediately issued orders.

The Liang family had a firearms team; the members were not all sharpshooters, but it was enough to deal with assassins.

"Lu Guang, in the next few days, you can fire at will."

Lu Guang, seeing he finally had a role to play, his eyes lit up and he said excitedly, "Yes, Your Highness."

"If possible, try to capture one or two alive."

Tong Xi said, "The assassins have poison in their mouths; it’s hard to capture them alive."

Lu Guang said, "I’ll try."

Zhao Yao raised his hand and patted Lu Guang’s shoulder, speaking gently, "We’re counting on you now."

Entrusted with important responsibility, Lu Guang straightened with a determined look: "I won’t let you down, Your Highness."

Lu Guang was no stranger to missions; he had previously gone to sea with others from the Divine Machine Camp and shot pirates. Going to sea to combat pirates was one of their routine training exercises.

Zhao Yao suddenly thought of something, and said with a mischievous smile, "Maybe you won’t have to expend much effort to handle these assassins."

Lu Guang and Tong Xi were puzzled, not understanding his meaning.

"Your Highness, didn’t you just say Prince Han might send Xiongnu Assassins to kill you?" Tong Xi said again, "And didn’t you say the Xiongnu Assassins are more formidable than the Xiongnu cavalry? So why do you say it won’t take much effort?"

"The Xiongnu cavalry and Xiongnu Assassins are formidable, but with a premise."

Lu Guang and Tong Xi simultaneously asked, "What premise?"

"That is, on land. And where are we now?"

Lu Guang responded quickly, "We are at sea now."

Zhao Yao pointed to the rising waves on the sea and grinned sinisterly, "The wind has picked up in the last two days, the sea is rough, do you think the Xiongnu Assassins might suffer from seasickness?"

Tong Xi finally understood Zhao Yao’s point, "Those Xiongnu people have likely never been on a ship or out to sea before. If they come to sea, they’ll definitely get seasick, maybe even experience a change in constitution."

"On land, the Xiongnu people are like wolves, but at sea, they turn into sheep." Zhao Yao laughed inwardly, Fifth Brother, you never imagined in your wildest dreams that the Xiongnu Assassins you sent would perish at sea.

As Zhao Yao predicted, the Xiongnu Assassins were on a ship for the first time and it was their first time out to sea. Shortly after they boarded, they began to suffer from seasickness.

The ruthless Assassins found themselves swaying uncontrollably on the ship, experiencing fear for the first time.

Even heavily wounded, with a single breath left, they would feel no despair; but when vomited endlessly, they experienced despair for the first time in their lives.

The first wave of Xiongnu Assassins dispatched mostly suffered from seasickness and some even experienced a change in constitution. A few were not seasick, but still felt terrible.

With the strong winds and waves over the past two days, the ship rocked with the motions of the sea, and those unaccustomed to ships could hardly stay steady.

The seasick Assassins could no longer target Prince Han. The non-seasick Assassins managed to get close to the Liang family’s merchant ship with sheer willpower, but a big wave hit, and before they steadied themselves, they fell into the sea.

Unable to swim, they had no chance of survival once they fell into the sea.

Lu Guang and Liang Chun, waiting on the ship for the Xiongnu Assassins, found their targets had plunged into the sea themselves before they even had to act and never resurfaced.

They waited another half day without seeing a second wave of Assassins. By dawn, no Assassins had turned up.

When Zhao Yao awoke and learned of the incident, he was not surprised.

Tong Xi and Lu Guang still couldn’t believe the Assassins had died without them doing anything. It was truly the first time they had encountered such a situation.

"Your Highness, you predicted it right."

Lu Guang said disdainfully, "These Assassins are no good." It was his first time seeing Assassins fall into the sea themselves.

"It’s normal for the Xiongnu people to face such circumstances on their first voyage," Zhao Yao abruptly thought of something and asked, "How many Assassins came last night?"

Lu Guang answered, "Ten."

"Only ten?" Zhao Yao lightly tapped the table with his fingers, "My dear Fifth Brother wouldn’t send just ten Assassins to kill me; there should be another group. They didn’t come last night, probably due to seasickness. Go find them; they might be nearby."

"I will go search now."

"I will go too."

After a while, Liang Chun reported that their people had found two bodies on the sea not far away from last night’s Assassins.

At dawn, Liang Chun dispatched people on small boats to search for last night’s Assassins’ bodies near the sea and unexpectedly found them.

The masks on the Assassins had been removed, revealing one Xiongnu face and one Central Plains face.

Liang Chun was astonished, "Your Highness, weren’t they said to be Xiongnu Assassins? How is there a Central Plains person?"

"It’s not surprising for there to be Central Plains people among the Assassins." Zhao Yao pondered for a while and said, "Strip their clothes, let’s see if there are any marks on them."

Liang Chun signaled to someone beside him, who understood immediately and went to strip the bodies.

On the thighs of the bodies, a mark was found: a wolf’s head.

The Xiongnu revered wolves. Legend has it that every Xiongnu has a wolf head tattoo soon after birth.

"Keep the bodies cold, don’t let them rot," Zhao Yao commanded, "They are still useful, I must take them back to the capital."

Liang Chun signaled for the bodies to be taken away.

"Your Highness, these bodies can only prove they are Xiongnu, not that they are Prince Han’s Assassins."

"Proving they are Xiongnu is enough." It would give the emperor a legitimate excuse to attack the Xiongnu.

"But... this has nothing to do with the Third Princess."

"Hopefully, Lu Guang and the others can find those who are seasick; maybe we can get some information from them." Fifth Brother, sending Xiongnu Assassins to kill me was like lifting a stone only to drop it on your own foot.

Lu Guang and Tong Xi split into two groups to search for the seasick Assassins and after a long search finally found them. By the time they reached them, the Assassins looked ashen, barely clinging to life.